In the kitchen was the busy figure of the cook. No shadow of Adrian could be seen. Only then did she remember that he had left! And would not be coming back for a month! A bucket of cold water soaked her.
For the entire last day, she tried her best to hide the sadness. But now, when he wasn't here, the sadness waved back to her in leaps and bounds.
The cook noticed her still body and moved towards her. And then she noticed her eyes. It was gleaming. Was her eyes always so bright? She felt a little confused. But looking at her sulking face, she pushed back all the queries at the back of her mind.
"Madam, you are awake? Sir, asked me not to disturb you. Would you like breakfast or lunch?" She politely asked her with a lowered head.
When she had received a week off out of the blue, she knew what Sir was up to. Now, looking with her own eyes, she knew that both of them had become one. And now, Madam's authority could not be challenged.
Wronging her would be equivalent to earning the hatred of Sir. So, it's better to remain polite and treat her kindly. Thankfully, Madam had a good heart, which made it easier to treat her well.
"Lunch, thank you. I would like it in the grasslands." Arella spoke and then went out. The sun was too bright today, and she wanted to bask in it. She always liked being in the sun.
The cook quickly set the table in the grassland, and Arella enjoyed her food there. There was soup, meat, and stir fried vegetables. It was edible, but by now, she had become used to the food cooked by Adrian.
He wasn't a chef. But whatever he cooked was just perfect for her. Looking at the stir fried vegetables, she remembered the day when he had almost burned the vegetables while talking to her. A smile bloomed on her face. She ate the food to cushion her stomach. And once done, she took a walk in the grasslands.
While walking, she heard a rustling sound from beyond the barrier. She shifted her gaze to the translucent barrier. She looked in the direction of the sound, but her eyes could not find anything. She closed her eyes, and the sound became clearer. She opened her eyes but couldn't see anything once again.
Curious, she closed her eyes again and started focusing on the direction of the sound. There, the rustling sound became sharper and sharper. It was the rustling of the leaves. As if someone was stepping on it. The taps were swift, and the difference between each tap was shallow. So, she felt that some animal with small feet was roaming around.
All of a sudden an image of a red eyed rabbit appeared in her mind. She abruptly opened her eyes. Startled, she looked deep and hard in the direction, but nothing reached her eyes. She closed her eyes, and a clear image of a red eyed rabbit appeared in her eyes.
It was a medium sized grey rabbit with big red eyes. The more she kept imagining it, the hungrier she felt. No, she wasn't filled with the food she had just eaten. She wanted something fresh, just like that rabbit. It would be better if she could slowly roast it over a fire. Such a rabbit would be juicy and delicious!
Her hunger started consuming her senses, and then, all of a sudden, the rabbit in her mind was caught up in blazing flames!
Startled, she opened her eyes! The translucent barrier was still in front of her, and beyond it was nothing but peace and calm. She closed her eyes and found that the rabbit in her mind was still burning. It had stopped struggling by now and had succumbed to its demise.
The flames lowered a little. Its head was burnt so badly that it fell off within seconds. All the blood flowed out. What remained was the juicy flesh being roasted in the flame. After a few minutes, the flames subsided, and in her mind was the fully cooked, edible rabbit.
She didn't want to open her eyes at all. The sight of the rabbit was too delicious. She wanted to eat it. And eat it now. Her eyes refused to open. And then, she heard another foreign sound.
Her head tilted with the sound as her eyes remained closed. It was the sound of a strong wind. Then, in her mind appeared the giant brown Hawk! It went straight to the cooked rabbit, clenched it in its feet, and flew upwards!
She hurriedly opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything in the sky but her head remained tilted, as if waiting for something to appear out of nowhere. Then, as if responding to her pleas, a giant Hawk covered her sky. It flew straight to her!
Her eyes widened! The Hawk flew towards her. The barrier that should have stopped it didn't pose any threat to it! How? How was that possible? She was starting to doubt that barrier now! Was that barrier of any use at all? The cat clan could enter, and now, this giant Hawk came too!
The Hawk flew towards her, and then it dropped the cooked rabbit on her. She instinctively caught it. The Hawk made a few circles around her before settling down on the ground, in front of her.
She was befuddled! She didn't know what was happening at all! She screamed out of fear. The cook, who should have appeared by now was nowhere in sight. She felt terrified!
She wanted to run away, but her feet felt fixed. She couldn't move an inch! She kept shouting for help, but nobody came to her. The rabbit in her arms was warm and emitting a strong mouth watering aroma.
Overcoming her fear, she shifted her gaze to the Hawk. In the place of the Hawk, she found a man instead.
Nicholas was standing right in front of her!
How did he enter the barrier? And the rabbit? It looked exactly like the one in her mind. What was happening? Why couldn't she move? Why wasn't any helper coming to her rescue? They should have become aware of the anomaly by now!